UTC Women Fall Hard to Central Florida 75-37

(gomocs.com) ORLANDO, Fla. — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s basketball team fell 75-37 at UCF Friday night at the CFE Arena. The Mocs fall to 4-5 overall and the Knights improve to 6-1 on the year.

Sophomore Mya Long scored five of her team-high 10 points in the final period. She was 4-of-7 on the night with a 3-pointer and two steals in 22 minutes. Lakelyn Bouldin was 2-of-6 from the 3-point line for six points and Shelbie Davenport added five points making 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.

The Mocs got off to a 9-2 start but three straight steals and an 8-0 run, gave UCF the advantage 10-9 with 2:10 to play in the opening period. The Mocs retook the lead on a 3-pointer from Bouldin and a layup by Rochelle Lee gave UTC the 14-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

UCF forced a turnover to start the second quarter and a quick 3-pointer by Kay Kay Wright and a layup form Masseney Kaba put the Knights up 17-14. Long evened it out with a 3-pointer at the 8:19 mark of the game, but that would be all the offense the Mocs could muster in the quarter as UCF went on a 21-0 run to close out the half with a 38-17 lead.

Chattanooga got scoring from Brooke Burns, Eboni Williams and Long in the third but UCF pushed its lead to 50-23. Long added five points in the final quarter and Bria Dial drained a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc, but the UCF offense continued its push.

Chattanooga was 13-of-39 from the field and made just 4-of-18 from the 3-point line. UTC had 23 turnovers, giving up 31 points and was outscored 30-10 in the paint.

UCF’s Wright had a game-high 18 points and led three Knights in double figures. She was 7-of-10 from the floor and made both 3-pointers. She was 2-of-2 from the charity stripe and had four steals. Kaba added 13 points and seven rebounds. Sianni Martin and Kayla Thigpen added 10 points each.

Chattanooga was still without point guard Molly Melton who suffered a knee injury during the Saint Louis game at the Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va.

Chattanooga returns home to host South Dakota State Tuesday night at the McKenzie Arena.